Lhotse | 2009 W Face

A USA expedition to Lhotse in 2009 via W Face, led by Greg Vernovage. Summit reached on 19th May 2009. 8 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 6469
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID LHOT09108
Peak ID LHOT
Year 2009
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Face
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality USA
Leaders Greg Vernovage
Sponsor International Mountain Guides (IMG) Lhotse Expedition 2009
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 130,132
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries France, UK
Approach -
Basecamp Date 2009-04-18
Summit Date 2009-05-19
Summit Time -
Summit Days 31
Total Days 35
Termination Date 2009-05-23
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8516
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 4
Fixed Rope (m) 1000
Total Members 6
Summit Members 2
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 2
Summit Hired 2
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep True
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(18/04,5350m),C1(23/04,6000m),C2(25/04,6500m),C3(02/05,7300m),C4(19/05,7927m),Smt(19-20/05)
Route Notes C1 at top of Icefall C2 in Western Cwm C3 on West Face. The expedition's C4 was pitched at 7927m on the West Face, 200m above the traverse from the Yellow Band and just before the Geneva Spur. From there, their route went straight up to the Turtle rock, below the couloir and to the right of it in order to avoid being hit by rock falling down the couloir, which acts as a chute (actually Vernovage was hit but his helmet protected him for injury.) The first climbers from this team to reach the top were two Sherpas, Chhewang Lendu and Gyalzen Dorje, who summited on 19 May while fixing 1000m of rope from C4 to the summit. The member's summit bid was made from C4 by Der Arslanian and Vernovage, the only ones left at BC. Accompanied by Chhewang Lendu, they left C4 at 1:45 am on 20 May, got to the summit at 7:45 am, were back in C4 at 10:45 am and continued down to C2 at 5:30 pm. They arrived at BC on the 21st, left the same day and spent the night at Pangboche. They were in Lukla on the 22nd and Kathmandu on the 23rd. Non-summiting members: Abell went to C3 on 18 April, was not strong enough to go higher. Vernovage told him to go down; Abell was not happy about these instructions, but he obeyed and left the team on the 20th. Adrian and Kierspe went into the Icefall on 21 April, said they loved their wives too much to continue, and left the team on the 23rd. Clapp never got above BC. He had altitude sickness on the team's arrival at BC on 18 April, left on the 19th for Pheriche, later returned to BC, but got sick again and Vernovage told him to leave, which he did on 1 May. Oxygen was used by all summiters in C4 to the summit. Der Arslanian, Vernovage and Chhewang Lendu stopped using it on return to C4 while the two members kept it on to C3. Sherpas: Chhewang Lendu, 19/4/80, Phortse, Everest X2, Lhotse X1, Cho Oyu X1, Manaslu X1 Gyalzen Dorje, 17/2/88, Phortse, Everest X1
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Beyul Adventure
Commercial Route False
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2457700
Year 2009
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) w face

Members

8 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
David Abell M 1968 UK Climber Farnham, Surrey, England Accountant Details Other expeditions
Lawrence D. (Larry) Adrian M 1950 USA Climber Portland, Maine Physician's assistant Details Other expeditions
William Lafayette (Bill) Clapp M 1950 USA Climber Gainsville, Florida Physician Details Other expeditions
Philippe Robin Der Arslanian M 1959 France Climber Roquefort-les-Pins, Alpes-Maritimes, France Engineer Details Other expeditions
George Howard Kierspe M 1956 USA Climber Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Engineer Details Other expeditions
Gregory (Greg) Vernovage M 1972 USA Leader Pacifica, California Alpine guide Details Other expeditions
Chhewang Lendu (Tsewang Lendu) Sherpa M 1980 Nepal H-A Worker Phortse, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions
Gyalzen Dorje (Gyaljen Dorje) Sherpa M 1988 Nepal H-A Worker Phortse, Khumbu - Details Other expeditions

References

0 recorded references.